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the Old Testament Triad 


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The Old Testament Triad 
of Vegetable Products, 
and Its Bearing on 
the One-Wine Theory 


An Exegesis of the Three Hebrew Words 

Dagan, Terosh, and Yitzhar 

_ which have been, for the most part, translated 
“*Corn, Wine, and Oil’’ 

but which should have been rendered 

\griculture-Produce, Vine-Fruit and Tree-Fruit 


By REV. JOHN NEWTON WRIGHT, D. D. ~ 
Wooster, Ohio 
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FOREWORD 
The author was a missionary in Persia for over 32 years. 


In the spring of the year 1878 the Holy Ghost 
said to the prophets and teachers of the presby- 
tery of Chillicothe, Ohio, ‘‘Separate me John New- 
ton Wright for the work whereunto I have called 
him.’’ So I, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, 
departed unto the northwestern part of Persia. 

Now, after almost a third of a century of ac- 
tive service in the Master’s work in that Bible land, 
I have been led to return to my native state from 
whence I had been recommended to the grace of 
God for the work which I have fulfilled; and am 
ready to rehearse to you, for your profit, some of 
my experiences in the Master’s service there. 

Two Moslem objections to the Bible. 

During the whole of my missionary life I was 
in close contact with Mohammedans, who are the 
Rationalistic Unitarians of the Orient. 

I found that they had two great objections to 
the Bible. As Unitarians they ridiculed its teach- 
ings as to the Trinity; and as total abstainers from 
the use of intoxicating liquors, they were offended 
by its praises of ‘‘wine’’. 

How to remove them. 

This led me to study these two subjects in a 

specially earnest and prolonged way. In the end 
8 


WIG Ao 


I clearly saw, as I believe, how these two stumbling- 
stones are to be removed. 


The trinity is a Life-unit, with Life-distinctions, 


The first is to be removed by stating the doc- 
trine of the Trinity, not along the lines of abstract 
philosophical argument, but along the lines of 
creative, redemptive, and regenerating Life, Love 
and Action ;—these being the distinguishing eharac- 
teristics and functions of the Father, the Son, and 
the Holy Spirit,—the one triune eternal life. 


The word wine was, at first, generic. It meant vine 
products. 


The second stumbling stone is to be removed 
by a correct understanding and corrected transla- 
tion of the dozen or more different words which are 
found in the inspired original, but all of which 
have been translated in the versions by the one 
word ‘‘wine.’’ 


One generic word deemed sufficient to represent a dozen 
specifie articles. 


The translators of the Septuagint, it seems, 
deemed the then generic word ‘‘wine’’ sufficient 
to designate all the numerous products of the 
vine. They saw no use of introducing in a transla- 
tion a dozen names for the specific products of the 
“‘vine’’ any more than we now, in translating an 
Arabie book into English, would see any call for 
the dozens of specifie Arabic words in use for 
“‘eamel’’, being represented in the version by dozens 
of English equivalents, when the one generic word 

4 


fi vi 


camel would answer every purpose, and be more 
plain to the ordinary reader. 


‘The generic word “wine” has now become a specific 
name. 


But as the centuries passed the word ‘‘wine’’ 
‘began to lose its generic sense. The tendency has 
been to limit more and more the content of the 
word to a specific intoxicating liquor. At the same 
time the idea has become prevalent that this has 
always been its only meaning. Hence many now 
elaim that wherever the word ‘‘wine’’ is found in 
their Bibles it must, of course, refer to an alcoholic 
beverage. 


Mence the inadequate and inaccurate use of that one word 
in later versions. 


Following the example set by the Septuagint, 
nearly all the later versions have translated the 
more-than-a-dozen original words for the products 
of the vine by the same word ‘‘wine’’. This rendi- 
tion has become a traditional one, in fact. It has 
also become all but universal to insist that wherever 
this ‘‘a-dozen-in-one-word,’’ wine, occurs in the ver- 
sions it always and everywhere means an inebriat- 
ing liquor! 

The genuine moslem abominates intoxicants. 


What wonder, therefore, that the genuine Mo- 
thhammedan, whose religion requires total abstinence 
from such wine, should object to a Bible in which 
he finds intoxieating viands so highly praised! 
Common sense tells him that they are full of deadly 
venom, and at last ‘‘bite like a serpent and sting 

5 


LAG A 


like an adder’’. Such wine is to him the very quin- 
tessence of all that is abominable; for he has beer 
taught that if a single drop of an intoxicant 
should, by chance, fall into an irrigating canal, 
and a thousand sheep should feed on the pasture 
watered thereby, the flesh of the whole flock must 
be counted ‘‘unclean’’; for in eating of that grass 
some one of the flock might have imbibed an in- 
finitesimal portion of that drop! 


Wine as an intoxicant is a universal snare. 


Thus it has come to pass that both Christiam 
and Moslem have stumbled on account of the, at 
first inadequate and now inaccurate, translation of 
the dozen or more original words by one word, 
which, it is now claimed, has never meant anything 
but an alcoholic liquor. 


The awful result. 

Under this interpretation the so-called Chris- 
tian lands have become notorious for the manufac- 
ture, sale, and use of ‘‘fire-water’’; and Moslems 
are either offended by these supposed teachings of 
the Bible, or, sadder still, are led to accept the 
interpretation given by Christians and are ruined 
for time and eternity. 


An investigation called for. 


When, therefore, I was appointed by the West- 
ern Persia Mission of the Presbyterian Church 
(North) to head the committee which was to co- 
operate with a similar committee of the British and 
Foreign Bible Society in translating the Bible into 

6 


the Azerbijan Turkish language, I took special pains 
to find out just what each of the more than a dozen 
specific words found in the original, but which had 
so generally been translated in the versions by the 
one word ‘‘wine’’, really meant. 


Helps in making it. 


In this quest I was much helped by the fact 
that Persia is pre-eminently a land of orchards and 
vineyards, as well as by frequent consultations with 
the Jews who, I found, still use, for the most part, 
the same dozen specific words as names for different 
products of the vine. 


Direcovered that Ashisha is a fruit-and-nut confection. 


I soon discovered that ‘‘Ashisha’’ was not 
“‘flagons of wine’’, but a kind of fruit-confection. 
it is made by stirring flour into boiling molasses till 
it is well thickened. Then this ‘‘foundation’’, while 
still hot and soft, is filled as full as possible with the 
kerhels of nuts and dried fruit. It is then allowed 
to ‘‘harden’’ and become ‘‘firm’’. In short, ‘‘ Ash- 
isha’’ is grape-molasses hardened so as to become a 
“‘foundation’’ (Ashish) for holding nut-kernels and 
dried fruit. It is a very compact and nourishing 
food. The Jews still call it Ashisha, and the Mos- 
lems call it Haséda. 


And that Asis is tricklings. 


Another of our ‘‘wines’’ turned out to be the 
delicious grape-juice which ‘‘trickles’’ out of the 
wat as the clusters of the vine are piled up in the 

7 


vat, preliminary to their being erushed by the 
‘‘treaders’’. 

The pressure of the superincumbent grapes so 
““squeezes’’ those beneath that they are soon satur- 
ated—drenched, in fact—with their own ‘‘blood’’. 
The vat then begins to drop ‘‘driplets,’’ trickle 
‘‘tricklings’’ and ‘‘drip with drippings’’. ‘‘Asis’” 
translated into English means these innocent and 
unfermented ‘‘drippings’’, ‘‘tricklings’’ or ‘‘juice- 
treacle’’. 


Many of the dozen words refer to foods, or non-alcoholie 
liquids. 


It would be a delight to take up each of the 
“*more-than-a-dozen’’ words which have, in the ver- 
sions, been rendered by the one word ‘‘wine’’, in 
order to show you how many of them are perfeetly 
free from alcohol—the poison that causes drunken- 
ness. Expense of publication forbids that I do so 
now. But just to show you what a flood of light a 
correct exegesis of these words throws on the real 
meaning of God’s Holy Word, I have, in the follow- 
ing treatise, given an exegesis of the Hebrew word 
“‘Térdsh’’. I select it because, when ‘‘wine”’ is 
praised in the versions, the original word is generally 
found to be ‘‘Térésh’’. 


Térésh is much praised. 


It is not a fermented liquor, but vine-fruit as taken from 
the vine. 


Hence if this partieular word, when eorrectly 
exegeted, is found to have no intoxicating proper- 
ties, the prevalent ‘‘one-wine’’ theory, which as- 

8 


sumes that wherever the word ‘‘wine’’ occurs in 
the versions it always refers to an intoxicating 
liquor, will become utterly untenable. The ‘‘one- 
wine’’ theory, which has been for ages such a 
stumbling stone for Christian and Moslem alike, 
yea, for the whole Bible-reading world will be, to 
that extent, removed. 

The original words for “corn, wine, and oil” are generic, 


class-terms for agricultural produce, vine-fruit, and 
tree-fruit. 


At the same time you will see that the oft- 
repeated triad of ‘‘corn, wine and oil’’ does not 
refer to specific products such as corn, or to manu- 
factured articles such as wine and oil; but to the 
God-given produce of the soil as it is found in the 
field, the vineyard and the orchard. 

They are, in fact, agricultural produce, vine- 
fruit and tree-fruit—the source of supply for our 
food and clothing. 

As you read this exegesis, let your heart lift up 
the petition ‘‘Open Thou our eyes that we may 
behold wondrous things in Thy law,’’ and you will 
not read in vain. 


1a 


TT. 


EV. 


OUTLINE OF CONTENTS 


A Foreword—The author and his experiences 
while in Persia. 


Diagrams of the Vegetable Triad; and the 
Vegetable and Animal Pentad and Heptad- 


The Triad Exegeted Etymologically— 
(1) Dagan is agricultural produce; 
(2) ‘‘Térdsh”’ is vine-fruit; 


(3) ‘‘Yitzhar’’ is tree-fruit. 


The Triad Exegeted Contextually— 


Gen. 27:27, 28. It is related to the ‘‘dew’” 
and the soil. 

Numbers 18:12,13. It is related to ‘‘first- 
fruits’’. 

Deut. 14:22, 23. It is associated with ‘‘tithes’’” 
and the ‘‘firstlings’’ of the flock. 

Deut. 7:13. It is defined as ‘‘the fruit’’ of 
the land. 

Deut. 11:11-17. It is connected with ‘‘land’’, 
rain and the seasons. 

10 


Deut. 12:17-19, and Deut. 14:22, 23. This Triad 
sums up the products of plant-life, as the 
Dyad—‘‘herd and flock’’—sums up the off- 
spring of domestic animal-life. 


Deut. 18:1-4. It was the priests’ due in lieu 
of a land-grant. 


‘ 


Deut. 28:47-51. Its presence insures ‘‘abund- 
ance of all good things’’; its absence means 
‘‘want of all things’’. 


Deut. 33:28 and Zech. 8:12. It consists of 
products of the soil which, while growing, 
are dependent on moisture. 


Judges 9:18. The vine claims ‘‘Térdsh’’ as 
its own fruit which ‘‘cheers God and man’’. 


2 Kings 18:31. Rabshakeh explains the Triad 
to be soil-products. 


2 Chron. 31:5. “‘Fuirst-fruits’’ and ‘‘tithes’’ 
are given from this Triad. 

2 Chron. 32:28 and Malachi 3:10. Storehouses 
were required for the ‘‘increase’’ from this 
Triad. It was used as ‘‘meat’’ (food) for 
the Lord’s ministers. Lev. 10:8-11. 


Neh. 5:11. Nehemiah rebukes those who took 
mortgages on the growing crops of this 
Triad. 

Neh. 10:37-39 and Neh. 13:5. It is defined as 
‘‘the fruit of all manner of trees’’ and ‘‘the 

11 


produce of the ground’’. It was laid up in 
- “great chambers’’. 


Neh. 13:12. Its ‘‘first-fruits’’ and ‘‘tithes’” 
were needed for the support of the Levites 
who had no land. 


Psalm 4:7. Its goodly yield gladdens the tiller 
of the soil. 


Prov. 3:9,10 and Joel 2:21-24. Abundance of 
the Triad is promised to those who ‘‘honor 
the Lord’’ with offerings of its ‘‘first-fruits’’” 
and ‘‘tithes’’ of its ‘‘increase’’. 


Isaiah 24:7. ‘‘Térosh’’ is withered by a 
drought. 


Isaiah 56:17. A land of Dagan is a land of 
bread, and a land of ‘‘Térésh’’ is a land of 
vineyards. 

Isaiah 62:8,8. God provides food for His peo- 
ple through the inérease of this Triad. 


Isaiah 65:8. ‘‘Térdsh’’ exists in the ‘‘cluster’” 
on the vine. 


Jer. 31:12. The Pentad of life-products—three 
of them vegetable and two of them animal— 
is the gift of God. 


Hosea 2:7-12. The Heavenly Husband gives 
this Triad of life-products, as a reward, to 
His consort when she is faithful; and with- 
holds it, as a punishment, when she is un- 
faithful. 

uP. 


Hosea 2:21,22. It is connected with the 
clouds, fertile earth, and rain; and furnished: 
food and clothing. 


Hosea 4:11 and Hosea 2:2-12. ‘‘Térésh’’ was: 
the gift of God’s bounty—not the gift of 
idols. The wife’s mistake as to who, by 
giving abundant crops, provided her food 
and clothing. 


Hosea 7:14. Wayward Israel implores this 
Triad from idols. 


Hosea 9:1,2. The Divine Husband withholds 
His beneficent crops as a punishment for 
Israel’s illicit love. 


Joel 1:10-12. A drought affects the Triad. 


Joel 2:18-24. Repentant Israel will have it in 
abundance. 


Micah 6:15. ‘‘Térésh’’ is distinguished from 
““Yayin’’ (Yain). 


Haggai 1:10,11. It is ‘‘that which the land 
bringeth forth.’’ 


V. Conclusions—1-7. 


Il. (a) The Tried: 


A diagram of the vegetable Triad of the Old Tegthment, ax it ix related to sinless man, inside 
the Garden of Eden. (Man and his life-environment, while sinless.) 
(Read in the order of the letters—A, B, C, D, E. and F.) 


A. Fr. 




















“The Lord’God planted 
a garden . . . in Eden; 
and there He put the man 
whom He had formed"’ 
(Gen. 2:8). 

“The Lord God took 
the map and put him into 
the Garden of, Eden +6 
dress. it and to keep it’’, 
i.e, to culture her and to 
guard her (Gen. 2:15). 


Sinless man, in Para- 
dise, cultured plant-life in 
the fertile, well-watered 
soil, lived by and was 
clothed with her products 
—agricultural-p rodu ce, 
vine-fruit, and tree-fruit 
—and consecrated to the 
Triune. Creator the “‘first- 
fruits’’ and ‘“‘tithes"’ of 
this Triad as bloodless 
oblations (‘‘minki'’). and 
thank-offerings.” 


As ‘an agriculturixt. 
he cultivated ‘‘Daigan"’ 
in the arable, fecund 
field. He prepared the 
soil and sowed the seed, 
the Lord God watered 
it (Gen. 2:6-14) and 
gave the ‘‘jncrease’”’ (4 
Cor. 3:6). 


Man, im_ fellowship" 
with God, dwelt in, tho 
midst of the garden, 
and cultured bloodless 
plant-life, while he re- 
mained sinless (Gen. 2: 
15). The produce of the 
field, vineyard and 
orchard met his needs 
Gen. 1:29). 





























D. Ez. 

As‘a_ hortivel- 
turist, he planted 
and cared for 
trees, and culti- 
vated ‘‘Yitzhir” 
in the orchards. 













As a. viticultur- 
ist, he cultivated 
the vine, and it 
bore‘*Térdsh"’ for 
him in the vine- 
yards. 

















The four Blogdy of- 
ferings show man to be 


II. (c) The Heptad of 


Animal and Vogetable 
, a sinner in need of re 
aifferings. 


demption. 


Three bloodless offer- Four bloody offer- 


inga—three from the 
Flock, and the Herd; 
Orchard. respectively. ~ and one from the Birds. 


ings.—one from the 


Field, Vineyard and 





Il. (c) The diagram of the Heptad of Offerings, being vegetable and animal products combined. 
4See below.) (It.shows man as a sinner in.need of redemption.) 


14 iia 3 oes 


be 


IL (b) A diagram of the PENTAD of Vegetable and Animal Life, as it is 
related to Sinful Man, outside the Garden of delight. (Man and his - 
LIFE ENVIRONMENT, as a Sinner.) 3 









. A-l1. 
“Abel wus u keeper of sheep, but Cain 
was a tiller of the soil." “Cain brought 
of the” (hloodlessy- “fruit' of the 
ground an offering unto the Lord.” 

“And Abel be brought. also” (in ad- 
dition), “the firstlings of his ‘flock. 
And the Lord had respect to Abel, 


In short. sluful man. bereft of (he apirie 
of fellowship, dwells outside the well- 
watered, fertile garden, and is en- 
vironed by a sin-cursed world. The 
ground ylélds only a scanty in- 
crease of Dagtin, Térésh and Yttz- 

hir; but brings forth in abund- 













and to his” Cilcody “offering.” He ST ance weeds, “thorns”, and “this- 
“But to Cain and his” (blood- vates Digin tles"—the emblems of a per 
leas) “offering He had not re- In the r verted, depraved, and dwarfeé 
spect.” “And Cain was very soil, an re- life (Gen. 3:17, 1€)_ 


wroth ...and rose up 
against his brother and 
slew him.” “And the Lord 
sald unto Cain. . . Now 
art thou cursed more 
than the earth... 
The ground shall no 
henceforth yield unto 
thee her strength.” 
(Gen. 5:2-5). > 







deems it from 


weeds, 

Yet with all his toll, 
instead of 30, 60, or 
100 fold, it only fields 
8. 10. or 15 fold. 

The birds of the air, the 
rocky soll, and the choking 
thorns prevent him from 
having more than partial suc- 
cess, as a szower. Matt 13:3-9. 



























vote 












Man, outs! the Garden, still culti- 
vates “Digiin. Térésh and Yitz- 
har", but under great difficul- 
ties, Both the soil and its 
produce need redemption and 
regeneration. The semi- 
barren wastes lead him 
to become pastor and 





























E.. 

He culti- 
Vates “Yitz- 
fir” in the 
orchard, and 
works hard to 
free the trees 
from thorns and Iin- 
sect pests. But at 
best, he has only par- 
tial succesS; for frosts 
nip the tender fruit, or 
swarms of insect-life des- 
troy both tree and fruit 
(Joel 1:2-12). They are like the 
barren fig-tree «(Luke 13:6-9) 


DvD. 
He culti- 
vater’ “Tér- 
osh* in the 
stony vine- 
yard, about 
which he builds 

@ wall for protec- 
tion. He redeems the 
enclosure from_briars- 

and thisties, and plants 
there only the choicest 

vines; yet they often either 
remain unfruitful, or, worse 
still, bear grapes of Sodom 
(Isalah 6:2-4). 






























(Gen, 4:2). 
































“ F. 

As Shepherd, lie cares for and 
protects his flock from robbers 
and ravenous animals, on the 
lenely wastes and- deserts. 
In redeeming them from 
destruction, he may 
even sacrifice his own 
life (Ezek. 34:11-16: 
John 10:1-17). 


G. : 

As a Paster, he pastures his hers 
in the wild mountains and re- 
deems their lives from de- 
struction by destroying 
their common enemles— 
the lions, tigers, and 
other beasts of prey. 
In doing-so, he often 
puts his own life 
in jeopardy (1. 
Sam. 17:34- 
36). 


































H-2. 

Moreover, on 
the dry, semi- 

arld wastes and 
untillable soll, 

where the blessed 
Triad of plant-life can 
no longer thrive. and fu 
from home. he cares for the 
Dyad of animal-life—the flock 
and the herd—which can thrive 
on the stunted herbage of the 
thirsty desert It Is thus that je 
becomes both the good shepherd and 
the provident pastor—the types of his 
own Redeemer. 


A-2. 

Cain and Abel 
were types of 
the flesh-born 
and the spirit-born 
worshipper. Cain. by 
his bloodless offering 
denied his fatth In “the 
Lamb of God which taketh 
away the sin of the world.” 
Abel expressed his faith in the 
coming Redeemer by the bloody. 
EGET which he presented (Heb. 





The Pentad consists of 3 bloodlesa and 2 blewedy oblations. (Fu (he Weptad of 
erlngs see previous page.) 


15 


III. The Vegetable Triad Exegeted Etymologically. 
In the Hebrew Bible the products of the field, 
the vineyard and the orchard are so grouped as to 
form a triad. A knowledge of this fact is of great 
importance in order to a right understanding of the 
Word of God, in general; and to show the false- 
hood of the ‘‘one-wine’’ theory, in particular. 
Ignorance of this vegetable triad, or inattention 
to it in the translations of the Bible, impairs the 
beauty, or destroys the true sense of scores of pass- 
ages of the sacred record; and is largely responsible 
for the mistaken idea that the Bible sanctions the 
moderate use of intoxicants, as a beverage. 


1. The first of the three words is “Digin”. Let us see 
what it includes. 


The eminent scholar, Kitto, says: ‘‘Under the 
term Dagin the Hebrews comprehended almost 
every object of field culture.’’ He should have 
added the produce of garden culture also, so as to 
have included under this one term all agricultural 
produce. 

That this is what he meant is evident from the 
following remarks farther on, namely: ‘‘There is 
now no doubt among scholars that Dagan compre- 
hends the largest and most valuable species of vege- 
table produce, and therefore it will be admitted that 
the rendering of the word by ‘corn’, and some- 
times by ‘wheat’, instead of by ‘every species of 
grain or field produce’, tends to limit our concep- 
tion of the Divine bounty, and to impair the beauty 
of the forty passages where it occurs.”’ 

16 


The Triad was at the base of the Tithing system. 


All that the land produced was subject to the- 
law of the Tithe. And these products were summed 
up under the generic, technical, class-terms Dagan, 
Térodsh and Yitzhar. Hence all manner of herbs and. 
herbaceous products also are comprehended under 
the first term of the Triad. For they were tithed, as 
the following references clearly show: ‘‘Ye pay 
tithes of mint and anise (dill), and cummin’’ (Matt. 
23:23) ; ‘‘Ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of 
herbs’’ (Luke 11:42). Again, ‘‘ All the tithe of the 
land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit 
of the tree, is the Lord’s’’ (Lev. 27:30). 

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, commenting on 
this verse, say: ‘‘The whole produce of the land 
was subjected to the tithe-tribute. It was a yearly 
rent which the Israelites, as tenants, paid to God, 
the owner of the land, and a thank-offering which 
they rendered to Him for the bounties of His provi- 
dence’”’ (Prov. 3:9; 1 Cor. 9:11; Gal. 6:6). 

Hence under the term Dagan gourds, squashes, 
pumpkins, melons and cucumbers are included; also, 
wheat, barley, rye, maize, rice, millet and spelt; 
likewise the vegetables whose seeds grow in pods, 
such as beans, peas, lentiles and fitches, for they are 
all agricultural products. 


Wherein does the unity of these field-products consist? 


While various in kind, all these agricultural 
products have much in common. They all have, 
above ground, soft, herbaceous stalks or stems, are 
nearly all annual plants, and their seeds must be 

ily 


sown or planted, year by year, in newly prepared 
soil for each new crop. They are, in a peculiar 
manner, therefore, the products of agriculture. 


The idol Dagon, and Digin. 


It seems likely that the Philistine god, Dagon, 
was their god of agricultural produce (Dagan) ; for 
when Jehovah punished them with bodily tumors, 
and broke in pieces their revered Dagon, they re- 
turned the ark, not only with golden images of the 
tumors, as a propitiation for their trespasses, but 
with golden mice, in order that He might not further 
chastise them by destroying their Dagan (agricul- 
tural produce) by multitudes of mice (I Sam. 
6 :4, 5). 


2. Térédsh: What does it mean? 


The next term of this remarkable Triad is 
Térésh. It occurs thirty-eight times in the Old 
Testament. It is derived from the verb Ydarash, 
which means to take by seizing, capturing or ecapti- 
vating; to take by plucking, stripping, amd so to 
possess by dispossessing another. 

The Hebrews called the grape-crop Térdsh, be- 
cause they ‘‘stripped and spoiled”’ the vine in ‘‘tak- 
ing possession of (or cropping) its clusters of lus- 
cious fruit. For Téridsh is what is stripped and 
plucked from the vine, and so taken possession of by 
man. The vine was despoiled of its own, ‘‘stripped 
bare’’, ‘‘made poor’’, that man might live by the 
spoils thus taken. 

Dr. George F. Moore, of Harvard University, 

18 


says: ‘‘The notion that Térdsh is so called because 
it intoxieates, and so possesses or dispossesses a 
man’s senses, is no better than a possible pun; and 
does not in the least indicate that this was the origin 
of the word. There is direct testimony that Térdsh 
was used for a bunch of grapes, and even for dried 
figs.’’ 

In Turkish, the grape-crop is called ‘‘bagh 
pozumé—‘‘the spoils of the garden’’. Hence it has, 
you see, the same fundamental idea in it that is seen 
in Térosh. 

The grape-crop, therefore, is what is signified 
by Térésh. It is the vine-fruit in its natural, solid 
or succulent state. It comprehends, in a word, the 
grape-crop in general, whether on the vine or the ma- 
ture clusters as they are taken, plucked or stripped 
from the vine, or these clusters as hung up for use 
through the winter months, or as dried and used as 
‘‘raisins’’; for this latter word is the Latin racemus 
(our raceme), which meant ‘‘a cluster (raceme) of 
dried berries’’. 

Térésh and Yiin. 

But Térdsh is never used in the sense of wine. 
That is represented by the generic word Yayin (or 
YaIn), which signifies ‘‘the juice of the crushed 
grape’’ in all its states. It is a manufactured liquid 
article, and may be either in its natural unfermented 
state, or fermented. You must decide from the eon- 
text each time which kind is referred to. 

Our word ‘‘cider’’ is a similar voeable; for it 
means ‘‘the juice of the crushed apple’’, whether it 

19 


be in its natural unfermented state, or, by man’s de- 
vice, fermented. 


3. Yitzh&r: The third term of the vegetable triad. 


The third term of this most interesting, but 
hitherto much misunderstood, Triad of vegetable 
products is YItzhar. It has, for the most part, been 
rendered by ‘‘oil’’, in the versions. This is, to say 
the least, very confusing; for, in Hebrew, the word 
for ‘‘oil’’? is Shemen. It is found about two hundred 
times in the Old Testament, and is correctly repre- 
sented by our word oil, since it means what is fat 
or greasy. 


Yitzhiar. 


Yitzhar, on-the contrary, never means what is 
fat and greasy. It is derived from the verbal stem 
Tzahar which means ‘‘to be high’’, elevated, emi- 
nent. That this is its essential root-idea is shown 
by its use, and its derivatives, both in Hebrew and 
in the sister Semitic languages. 

For example—In Arabic, Persian and Turkish 
Zoher, and in Hebrew its cognate dual form Tzah- 
rayim signifies high-noon. 

Again—Attached to all the large temples of 
Babylon were sacred high-places, like the so-called 
tower of Babel, which were built in stages of differ- 
ent widths with the smallest at the top. These were 
called Ziggurit (the plural of Ziggur), which 
means high-places. See Webster at Zikkurat. 

Moreover, the renowned temple at Babylon, 
where Nebuchadnezzar worshipped, was called E-sa- 

20 


gla (or E-zagila), which means ‘‘house with a high- © 
tower or head. 

Both these words are evidently related to the 
Arabic Ziher, and the Hebrew Tzahar, from which 
comes Tzahrayim (high-noon). 

Again—In Gen. 6:16 the word Tzodher occurs. 
In the margin of the revised version it is correctly 
translated by roof; for it refers, not to a “‘window’’, 
but to the deck or high-part of Noah’s ark. 

From this same verbal root, and with a similar 
reference to highness, is derived the generic class- 
term Yitzhar; for it denotes an ‘‘eminent’’ class of 
fruits which are, for the most part, highly-colored, 
highly-prized, and high-grown. In short, YItzhar is 
the class-name for fruits which grow on high-plants. 
It means, in plain English, tree-fruit. 


A short resume. 

This Triad of vegetable products, therefore, 
comprehended all the products of the soil in their 
natural, solid, or succulent state. This fact explains 
why the tribe of Levi, which had no land-inherit- 
ance, was to receive and be supported by the ‘‘first- 
fruits’’ and the ‘‘tithes’’ of Dagan, Térdsh and 
Yitzhér. For Dagan meant agricultural-produce, 
_ Térdsh meant vine-fruit, and Yitzhaér meant tree- 
fruit. This vegetable Triad, therefore, compre- 
hended the produce of the field, the vineyard and 
the orchard. It included ‘“‘all that the land pro- 
duced’’; and was, for this very reason, the only 
adequate basis for the system of ‘‘first-fruits’’ and 
““tithes’’ which was to furnish food and clothing 

21 


for one whole tribe out of the twelve tribes of 
Israel. 


The English equivalents to be used for the vegetable Triad. 


This being the case, we will hereafter, in our 
exegesis, instead of the ‘‘corn, wine and oil’’ of 
the versions, and in place of the elass-terms ‘‘ Dagan, 
Térdsh and Yitzhar’’ of the original Hebrew, use, 
as a rule, their real English equivalents—agricul- 
tural-produce, vine-fruit and tree-fruit. 


IV. The Triad Exegeted Contextually. 


Bearing the above conclusions in mind, we wil? 
now briefly survey the context of the passages where 
this wonderful vegetable Triad is mentioned in the 
Old Testament. We will thus, at once, see how very 
apposite these renderings are, and as we proceed it 
will become self-evident that wherever the word 
‘‘wine’’ in the versions is the representative of 
Tér6dsh in the original, it can mean only vine-fruit; 
and, consequently, can have no intoxicating proper- 
ties. And this being so, the ‘‘one-wine’’ theory be- 
comes utterly untenable. 


The Triad is related to the “dew” and soil. 


In Gen. 27:27,28 we read that when Isaac 
blessed Jacob he said, ‘‘See, the smell of my son is 
as the smell of a field whieh the Lord hath blessed = 
and God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the 
fatness of the earth,—plenty of agricultural-pro- 
duce and vine-fruit.’’ 

22 


The context (see verses 37-40) shows that this 
Wlessing was all-inclusive, for only the sword re- 
mained for Esau to live by. 


“The Triad is related to “first-fruits”. 


In Numbers 18:12, 18 the Lord says to Aaron, 
“* All the best of the tree-fruit, and all the best of 
the vine-fruit, and of the agricultural-produce—the 
“first-fruits’ of them which they give unto the 
Lord—to thee have I given them. The first-ripe 
fruits of all that is in their land which they bring 
~unto the Lord, shall be thine.’’ The Triad of vege- 
table products here mentioned is composed of 
‘crops gathered in from the field, the vineyard and 
the orchard. Hence Térésh, the second member of 
‘the Triad, is not an artificially prepared inebriat- 
‘ing ‘‘wine’’, but the ripe grape-clusters. 

“The Triad is associated with “tithes”, and the offspring 
of animal-life. 

In Deut. 14:22, 23 we find the command, ‘‘Thou 
‘shalt surely tithe all the increase of thy seed—that 
which cometh forth of the field, year by year—and 
thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God .. . the 
tithe of thy agricultural-produce, of thy vine-fruit, 
and of thy tree-fruit, and the ‘firstlings’ of thy 
herd and of thy flock.’’ 

‘The members of this Triad are evidently generic class- 


terms which include all that grew in the field, vine- 
yard and orchard. 


This Triad must include all crop-products. For 
if, in the above texts, we restrict ‘‘agricultural-pro- 
duce’’ to the one article—wheat (‘‘corn’’)—no obli- 

; 23 


gation exists as to. the giving of the tithe or ‘‘first- 
fruits’’ of barley, or other cereals; or of herbs, 
pulses, and the cucurbits! : 

Moreover, if we restrict the term vine-fruit to 
intoxicating ‘‘wine’’, then those who made use of 
the grapes as ‘‘plucked’’ from the vine, or as dried 
“‘racemes’’ or raisins, or used them in some one of 
the very many other ways still in vogue in the 
Orient, were not required to give ‘‘first-fruits’’ or 
“‘tithes’’ of them. For it was only the intoxicant— 
““wine’’—that was taxed! 

And if we restrict the tree-fruit to ‘‘oil’’, then 
no one was required to give the ‘‘tithes”’ or ‘‘first- 
fruits’’ of the large and valuable class of fruits that 
grew on the trees! To even think of establishing a 
system of taxation for the support of one-twelfth of 
the population on the income of only such specific 
articles as ‘‘corn, wine and oil’’, while exempting all 
else from any payment of tax, is ridiculous, yea, ab- 
surd. But the above passages in regard to the giv- 
ing of ‘‘first-fruits’’ and ‘‘tithes’’ are the most 
definite ones we can find on this subject, and are 
evidently designed to be very comprehensive. 

Moreover, since we know that ‘‘all that the 
land brought forth’’ was ‘‘tithed’’, the practice must 
interpret these three terms as meaning agricultural- 
produce, vine-fruit and tree-fruit. To give to them 
the sense of ‘‘corn, wine and oil’’ would defeat the 
very object in view, which was the comfortable sup- 
port of the whole tribe of Levi, which had no land- 
inheritance. It would require ‘‘the tithe’? and 


24 


*‘first-fruits’’ of all that the land produced to meet 
the manifold needs of this tribe of the Lord’s min- 
isters who had no land on which to raise crops, or 
from which to gather fruits. The Lord’s share—the 
tithe of all the land produced—was their inheritance. 


The Triad is expressly called “The fruit of the land”. 


You will see from Deut. 7:13 that this Triad 
of vegetable blessings is specifically designated as 
“‘the fruits of the ground’’. 

“The Lord thy God will love thee, and bless 
thee, and multiply thee; He will also bless the fruit 
ef thy land—thy agricultural-produce, thy vine- 
fruit, and thy tree-fruit—the increase of thy kine 
and the young of the flocks of thy sheep, in the 
land which He swore unto thy fathers to give thee.’’ 

In this passage we have the expression, ‘‘the 
fruit of thy land’’ actually defined as an all-inclusive 
Triad consisting of agricultural-produce, vine-fruit 
and tree-fruit. 

In the light of such a clear declaration, how 
defective and misleading does the translation ‘‘ wine 
and oil’’ appear for the latter two terms; and espe- 
cially so when it is insisted that the ‘‘wine’’ here 
mentioned is a manufactured intoxicating liquor 
everywhere it is mentioned in the whole Bible! 


The Triad is connected with “land” rain, and the seasons. 

From Deut. 11:11-17 we learn that the Triad of © 
vegetable products is the reward which the God of 
all life bestows on the obedient, and that the rains 
of heaven nourish it in the valleys and on the hills. 


25 


‘“‘The land whither ye go to possess it is ® 
land of hills and valleys; and drinketh water of 
the rain of heaven: a land which the Lord thy God 
eareth for; the eyes of the Lord thy God are always. 
upon it, from the beginning of the year, even unto 
the end of the year; and it shall come to pass, if 
ye hearken diligently unto my commandments, 
which I command you this day, to love the Lord 
your God, and to serve Him with all your heart, and 
with all your soul, that I will give you the rain of 
your land in his due season—the first rain and the 
latter rain—that thou mayest gather in thy agri- 
cultural-produce, and thy vine-fruit, and thy tree- 
fruit; and I will send grass in thy fields, for thy 
cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. 

‘“‘Take heed to yourselves that your heart be 
not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other 
gods, and worship them; and then the Lord’s wrath 
be kindled against you, and He shut up the heavens, 
that there be no rain, and that the land yield not 
her fruit, and lest ye perish quickly from off the 
good land which the Lord giveth thee.’’ 


Disobedience brings a curse; obedience, a blessing. 


The Lord God said to disobedient Adam, 
‘‘Cursed is the ground for thy sake, . . . thorns. 
and thistles shall it bring forth to thee’’ (Gen. 3:17). 

Renewed obedience would remove that curse, 
and cause the earth to bring forth anew its Edenic 
Triad of vegetable blessings—agricultural-produce, 
vine-fruit and tree-fruit. It is evident, also, that the 
vegetable-produce here referred to was in its nat- 

26 


ural, solid or succulent state; and hence contained 
no alcohol, which is the degenerate offspring of 
death and dissolution. 


This Triad sums up the products of plant-life, as the Dyad 
—“flock and herd”—sums up the offspring of domestie 
animal-life. 


That the class-terms vine-fruit and tree-fruit 
are the offspring of vegetable life in their solid state 
is made evident again by the rule laid down in Deut. 
12:17-19, ‘‘Thou mayest not eat within thy gates 
the tithe of thy agricultural-produce, or of thy vine- 
fruit, or of thy tree-fruit, or the firstlings of thy 
herd, or of thy flock, . . . but thou shalt eat them 
before the Lord, thy God, in the place which the 
Lord, thy God, shall choose. 

‘“‘Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not 
the Levite as long as thou livest upon the land.’’ 


The Triad of vegetable, and Dyad of animal, life is men- 
tioned again in Deut. 14:22, 23. 


This instruction is again repeated in Deut. 14: 
22,23. It reads, ‘‘Thou shalt eat the tithe of thy 
agricultural-produce, of thy vine-fruit, and of thy 
tree-fruit; and the firstlings of thy herd, and of 
thy flock.’’ The Triad and the Dyad make wp a 
Pentad of life-products. 

The Pentad examined. 

In the Dyad, the words herd and flock are 
generic, collective, class-terms. 

Under the former is included all the offspring 
of the larger domestic animals, such as camels, eattle, 


buffaloes, donkeys, horses and mules; and under the 
yf 


latter is comprehended the offspring of all the 
smaller animals, such as sheep and goats. 

Hence the inference is natural, and quite irre- 
sistible, that the first three terms—agricultural-pro- 
duce, vine-fruit and tree-fruit—are also generic, 
class-names; and sum up the life-product of what 
springs from the ground. 

The Triad of vegetable life-products, and the 
Dyad of animal offspring were both alike the basis 
for supplies of food and clothing; and were com- 
posed of these life-products in their unmanufactured 
state just as God had created them through the 
mediation of creature life. 


The Triad was the priest’s due in lieu of a land-grant. 


‘‘The priests, the Levites, shall have no portion 
nor inheritance with Israel’’ (as to the ownership 
of land), ‘‘and this shall be the priests’ due, from 
the people’’ (in lieu of said ownership)—‘‘the first- 
fruits of thy agricultural-produce, of thy vine-fruit, 
and of thy tree-fruit, and the first of the fleece of 
thy sheep shalt thou give him’’ (Deut. 18:1-4). 

In short, the first-fruits of all vegetable life, 
along with the first-born of all domestic animal life, 
was to be given to the Lord’s ministering representa- 
tives as an equivalent for having no land of their 
own. The Lord of both kinds of life required this. 
tribute, as a land rental. 


The Triad’s presence imsured “abundance of all good 
things”. Its absence meant “the want of all things”. 


In Deut. 28 :47-51, the Lord of life says to dis- 
obedient Israel, ‘‘Because thou servedst not the 
28 


Lord, thy God, with joyfulness and gladness of 
heart, for the abundance of all things, therefore thou 
shalt serve thine enemies, which the Lord shall send 
against thee, in hunger and in thirst and in naked- 
ness and in want of all things. . . . The Lord shall 
bring against thee a nation that shall not leave thee 
agricultural-produce, vine-fruit, or treeefruit, or the 
increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until 
He shall have destroyed thee.”’ 

Any thoughtful person will see at once that the 
absence of the three specific articles ‘‘corn, wine 
and oil’’ would not reduce a nation to such a state 
of dire necessity, as to leave them famished, thirsty 
and naked. On the contrary, experience shows that 
the absence of ‘‘wine’’ which intoxicates, increases 
the well-being of a nation. 

Hence the assumption—it is nothing more—that. 
Térésh is an intoxicant gives a sense to the context 
that is wholly irrelevant. For it was evidently a 
fruit of the earth which would be destroyed along 
with agricultural-produce and tree-fruit, by the cruel 
invader. The Triad, therefore, includes all these 
useful products of the soil. 


The Triad grows and is dependent om moisture. 


This view is still further confirmed by Deut. 
33:28 and Zech. 8:12. 

The former passage says, ‘‘Israel dwelleth in 
safety, the foundation of Jaccb alone, in a land of 
agricultural-produce, and vine-fruit; yea, his 
heavens drop down dew.’’ The latter passage, too, 
speaks of the ‘‘dew’’. 

29 


These references to the dew imply that the 
crops spoken of were products of the soil in their 
natural, solid or succulent condition. 

The vine claims Terosh as its own fruit which “cheers 

God and man”. 

In Judges 9:13, we have a parable in which the 
vine claims Térésh as its own fruit, and refuses to 
leave this source of blessing in order to become a 
ruler in a less fruitful sphere. 

‘The vine said, shall I leave my Térésh (the 
grape-crop), which cheereth God and man, and go 
to wave to and fro over the trees?”’ 

The ‘‘first-fruits’’ and ‘‘tithes’’ of the fruit of 
the vine, when consecrated to God by grateful wor- 
shippers; or which, in thankful acknowledgment of 
the Divine goodness which gave a bountiful erop, 
were offered to His ministering servants who had no 
share in the land, cheered the heart of the God of 
the whole earth; and this same grape-crop, when 
used as food by the people, filled them, too, with 
gratitude and good-cheer. 


A dilemma for the “one-wine” theorist. 


Thus the same grape-crop cheered God and mans 
But alcoholic liquor and its resultant drunkenness 
neither cheers God nor man. Intoxicants used as 
beverages, displease God, and ruin man. Yet the 
person who holds that wherever ‘‘wine’’ is men- 
tioned in the Bible it is an intoxicating liquor, must, 
if consistent, maintain that the Térdsh, while still 
on the vine, has alcohol in it, and that it is this 


30 


inebriating principle that cheers God and man, or 
else he must give up his pet theory. 

The very thought that it is intoxication that 
cheers God and man is to me blasphemous. The 
Bible gives the lie to such perverted ideas by telling 
us that no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of 
God. 


Rabshakeh explains the Triad as soil products. 


That Térdsh is the ‘‘fruit of the vine”’ in its 
natural, God-created state, is further made plain by 
the address of Rabshakeh, the butler of the king of 
Assyria, when he, for the royal master, exhorted 
the Jews to submit to him (2 Kings 18:31). 

‘*Make peace with me, and come out to me; and 
eat you every one of his vine, and every one of his 
fig-tree . . . until I come and take you away to a 
land like your own land—a land of agricultural- 
produce, and vine-fruit, a land of bread and vine- 
yards, that ye may live and not die’’, from starva- 
tion. 


The Triad is the basis for “first-fruits” and “tithes”. 


Again, when Hezekiah commanded the people 
that dwelt in Jerusalem to give the portion of the 
priests and the Levites, that they, being free from 
worldly cares and avocations, might give themselves 
to the law of the Lord (2 Chron. 31:5), we read that 
“‘As soon as the commandment came abroad, the 
children of Israel gave in abundance the ‘first- 
fruits’ of agricultural-produce, vine-fruit, and tree- 
fruit, and honey and all the increase of the field: 

81 


and the ‘tithe’ of all things brought they in 
abundance.’’ 


“First-fruits and Tithes’” were not manufactured articles, 
but were God-created products. | 


That none of these offerings were manufactured 
articles is evident from the narrative. All were 
given by the people as thanful recognitions of God’s 
sovereignty and goodness. They gave them to the 
ministers of the Lord of all life, who, through the 
instrumentality of the lower orders of creature life, 
had brought them into being. 

In such superabundance did the grateful people 
give back to God of His own gifts to them that 
Hezekiah had to build ‘‘storehouses’’ for the ‘‘in- 
crease of agricultural-produce, and vine-fruit, and 
tree-fruit’’ (2 Chron. 32:28). 

The Triad was stored as food (“meat”) to support the Lord’s 
ministers. 

The God who provides all good things for those 
who serve Him thus fulfilled the promise found in 
Malachi 3:10,11, ‘‘Bring ye all the tithes into the 
storehouse, that there may be meat’’ (food) ‘‘in 
mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the — 
Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of 
heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall 
not be room enough”’ (in the storehouses) ‘‘to re- 
ceive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your 
sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your 
ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before 
the time in the field, saith the Lord of Hosts.’’ — 

These storehouses were, of course, for food. 

32 


Storehouses around the temple where the Holy Spirit 
dwelt, for intoxicating spirits, would have been as 
incongruous then, as a saloon-attachment to a church 
would be now. 

There was, moreover, no call for intoxicants 
there, for the law especially forbade the use of such 
liquors by the officiating priests (Lev. 10:8-11). 


Mortgages were taken on the growing crops of this Triad. 


Nehemiah rebuked the usurers of his day (Neh. 
5:11), saying, ‘‘Restore to them’’ (your brethren) 
“even this day, their vineyards, their olive-yards 
and their houses; also, the hundredth part of the 
money, and of the agricultural-produce, the vine- 
fruit, and the tree-fruit that ye exact of them.’’ 

Manifestly, this Triad included all the fruits of 
the field, vineyard, and orchard in their God-created 
condition, which had been pledged for the payment 
of debts to the usurers before they were ripe and 
gathered. They were the products of manual labor. 
(See verse 13.) 

‘The Triad is defined as “the produce of the ground”, and 


“the fruit of all manner of trees,” and was laid up 
in “great chambers”, 


Again, in Neh. 10:37-39, it is recorded that we 
will bring ‘‘our offerings and the fruit of all manner 
of trees—of vine-fruit and tree-fruit—unto the 
priests, to the chambers of the house of our God; 
and the ‘tithes’ of our ground, unto the Levites. 

. For the children of Israel, and the children 
of Levi, shall bring the offering of the agricultural- 
produce, of the vine-fruit and the tree-fruit unto 

33 


these chambers.’’ Thus would they own the good 
providence of their beneficent God as it was shown 
by His munificent gifts made through the medium 
of His Triad of vegetable life. The same great pro- 
vision chamber is referred to again in Neh. 13:5. 
We there find it recorded that ‘‘Elhashib had pre- 
pared for him a great chamber, where aforetime 
they laid . . . the tithe of the agrieultural-pro- 
duce, the vine-fruit and the tree-fruit, as God had 
commanded.”’ 

The Triad being the basis of the tithe which 
was used for the support of a whole tribe (one- 
twelfth of the nation) of necessity included all that 
the field, vineyard and orchard produced. Other- 
wise its tithe would not have sufficed for the end 
in view. 

The Triad met all the needs of those who had no land. 


Later on (Neh. 13:12), when the Prophet per- 
ceived that this portion for the support of the 
Levites and other ministers had not been given them, 
his zeal was fired anew. ‘‘Then,’’ says he, ‘‘I eon- 
tended with the rulers, and said, Why is the house 
of God forsaken? And I gathered them together, 
and set them in their place. Then brought all Judah 
the tithe of the agricultural-produce, and the vine- 
fruit, and the tree-fruit unto the treasuries.’’ 

This contribution of soil-products was required; 
because, instead of a land-inheritance, the Levites 
inherited the first-fruits and the tithes of the God- 
given products of the land. The Lord’s portion was 
their support, the Lord was their inheritance. 

34 


_& goodly yield of the Triad gladdens the tiller of the soil. 
In the 4th Psalm (7th verse), David shows that 
man’s happiness consists in having God’s favor 
Contrasting this spiritual happiness with that of 
the man of the world, he says, ‘‘Thou hast put glad- 
ness in my heart more than in the time that their 
agricultural-produce and their vine-fruit increased.’’ 
Good crops gladden the farmer. A realization 
of God’s blessed presence and gracious approval 
gladdens still more the pious heart. 
Abundance of the Triad is promised to those who “honor 


the Lord’ with offerings of its “first-fruits” and 
“tithes” of its imcrease. 


The increase here referred to is that of the 
field, the vineyard and the orchard, and * is prom- 
ised to those who give the tithe to the God of life; 
and thus honor Him. For it is written in Proverbs 
3:9,10, ‘‘Honor the Lord with thy substance, and 
with the first-fruits of all thine increase: so shall 
thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall 
be erushed with vine-fruit.”’ 

The above is an exact rendering of the original 
Hebrew. 

Gesenius justly objects to the translation which 
treads ‘‘thy presses shall burst out with new wine,”’ 
on the ground that ‘‘neither can the vat of a wine- 
press, nor yet the wine-press itself burst with plenty 
of new wine; that a cask or a wine-skin alone can 
do that,’’ and then only after it has ceased to be 
new wine and the process of fermentation has set in. 

Moreover the author is not speaking of what is 
done in either the barn, or the press; but of the 

35 ; 


superabundance of the produce collected in it. 
Henee, rightly understood, this passage gives no 
countenance to the common but monstrous notion 
that Térdsh is a manufactured article, and least of 
all that it is an alcoholic liquor. The above remarks 
apply, also, to Joel 2:21-24, where the same figure 
of speech is used. 


Térish can not be a liquid, for it is withered by drought, 


According to Isaiah 24:7, when God sends 
drought upon the land as a judgment, ‘‘the vine- 
fruit mourneth, the vine languisheth, and all the 
merry-hearted sigh.”’ 

This figure of speech can be appropriately used 
of the growing vine-fruit, but not of a manufactured, 
poisonous liquid. For the merry-hearted husband- 
man sighs when there is a failing prospect for a 
good grape-crop, caused by a prolonged, severe 
drought. 


A land of Diggin is a land of bread, and a land of Térésh 
is a land of vineyards. 


In Isaiah 36:17, the Rabshakeh says, ‘‘I will 
take you away to a land of agricultural-produce and 
vine-fruit—a land of bread and vineyards.’’ From 
this we learn that a land of agricultural-produce is 
a land of bread, and that Térdsh is the grape-crop 
as it is produced in the vineyards. 


God provides food for His people through the increase of 
this Triad. 


From Isaiah 62:8, 9, we learn that the Supreme 
Ruler of nations, and the Dispenser of all the gifts 
of vegetable-life, hath sworn by His right hand, and 

36 


by the arm of His strength, saying, ‘‘I, even I, will 
no more give thy agricultural-produce to be food for 
thine enemies, and the sons of the stranger shall not 
drink thy vine-fruit, for which thou hast labored; 
but they that have gathered it shall eat it, and praise 
the Lord; and they that have brought it together”’ 
(gathered it) ‘‘shall drink it in the courts of my 
holiness.’’ 


An exceptional use of Térédsh explained. 


Commenting on this passage, Kitto says, 
‘“‘Though Térésh occurs thirty-eight times in the 
Old Testament, this is the only passage where it is 
connected with the act of drinking. That the 
Prophet here speaks of it as if it was a liquid is 
explicable by supposing that he speaks figuratively 
or elliptically.’’ 

Just as the grain Dagan, which is here said to 
be eaten, is figuratively and elliptically used instead 
of Lehem (the proper word for bread); so the 
Térdsh which is said to be drunk, is metaphorically 
and elliptically used for new wine. 

Moreover, the verb translated ‘‘brought it to- 
gether’’ would have been more appositely rendered 
by ‘‘gathered’’ it, or ‘“‘collected’’ it, the act evi- 
dently referring to the taking of the fruit from the 
vine. 

The whole passage has special reference to the 
law of Moses, as contained in Deut. 12:17,18, and 
Ley. 19 :23-25, which requires the children of Israel 
to eat the tithe of their agricultural-produce, vine- 


37 


‘fruit, and tree-fruit before the Lord, that is, in His 
-sacred courts. 

Another plausible explanation is suggested by 
Lowth, namely, that since the grapes, though solid, 
are very juicy and succulent, the verb to drink is 
here used in its secondary sense of to suck, as is the 
ease in the Prayer-Book version of Psalm 75:8. 

In either case, there can be no reference to an 
intoxicating drink. 

“Térésh exists in the “cluster” on the vine. 


That Isaiah 62:8 is figurative and elliptical is 
shown without doubt by Isaiah 65:8, where the 
Lord, speaking of the remnant of Israel that shall 
‘be saved, says, ‘‘As the Térésh (vine-fruit) is found 
in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not, for a 
blessing is in it; so will I do for my servants’ sake 
‘that I may not destroy them all.’’ A remnant shall 
be saved. Grapes grow in groups or clusters. A 
futwre blessing, for all nations, is seen in Israel. 
‘Hence this group of men will remain as a separate 
people till the time of their becoming a blessing to 
‘the whole earth arrives. 

Since Térésh (vine-fruit) is found ‘‘in the 
cluster’’, it certainly can have no alcohol in it. Bven 
‘were the grapes to hang in the cluster till they 
rotted, there would be no alcohol in them. The 
intoxicant is developed only after depraved man 
‘takes the juice of the fruit in hand, and perverts it 
by various artificial devices. 

The theory that wherever the word ‘‘wine’’ 


‘occurs in the versions it always and everywhere is 
#® 


alcoholic, becomes utterly unscientific and ridiculous 
with the facts above stated in view; and the witness 
of Isaiah 65:8 that Térdsh is found in the ‘‘cluster’’, 
and that it has a blessing in it, contradicts it. It 
ean not be said with any truth of an intoxicating 
beverage, that there is a blessing in it. 

The Pentad of life-products—three of them vegetable and 

two of them animal—is the gift of the living God. 

In Jeremiah 31:12, it is said of restored Israel, 
‘They shall flow together to the goodness of the 
Lord—for agricultural-produce, for vine-fruit, and 
for tree-fruit, and for the young of the flock and 
herd.’’ 

Now, just as the words flock and herd are ab- 
stract, technical, collective terms, and sum up in 
themselves all kinds of domestic animal-life, so 
Dagan (agricultural-produce), Térésh (vine-fruit), 
and Yitzhar (tree-fruit), are class-terms for the all- 
inclusive Triad of vegetable-life. 

With the Divine blessing on their labor, their 
vegetable and animal products will so abound that 
“‘their soul shall be as a well-watered garden, and 
they shall not sorrow any more at all’’. 

Had Térodsh meant an intoxicant this would not 
have been the case; for sorrow has followed its use 
as a beverage, in every age and clime, and will con- 
tinue to do so, of course, in the future. 

The Heavenly Husband gives this Triad of life-products as 


a reward to His consort when she is faithful; and 
withholds it when she is unfaithful. 


Under the figure of the marriage covenant, 
89 


Hosea represents the Lord as saying of unfaithful 
Israel (see Hosea 2:7-12), ‘‘She shall follow after 
her lovers, but shall not overtake them; and she 
shall seek them, but shall not find them; then shall 
she say, I will go and return to my first husband, 
for then was it better with-me than now. 

‘‘For she did not know that I gave her agri- 
cultural-produce, and vine-fruit, and tree-fruit, and 
multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared 
for Baal. 

‘‘Therefore, will I return and take away My 
agricultural-produce in the time thereof, and My 
vine-fruit, in the season thereof. . . . I will des- 
troy her vines and her fig-trees, whereof she hath 
said, ‘These are My rewards that My lovers have 
given me’.”’ 

It is the Lord of all life, both vegetable and 
animal, that speaks thus of the products of the 
soil wherewith He blessed and provided for His 
covenant people ‘‘in the time thereof’’ and ‘‘in 
the season thereof’’, when they were faithful to 
their marriage-vow; but punished them, by the 
failure of crops, when they attributed these re- 
wards of loving obedience to another than their 
Covenant Husband. 

Adulterous Israel has yet to learn that the 
only source of her blessings, both temporal and 
spiritual, is the living God, and then she will return 
and be betrothed again to her provident, gracious 
Lord; and He will then forgive and receive her, 
and again provide for her every need. 


40 


The Triad has to do with the clouds, fertile earth, and 
‘rain; and furnished food and clothing. “ 


Such is the promise contained in Hosea 2:21, 22, 
“Tt shall come to pass in that day I will hear, saith 
the Lord, I will hear the heavens’’ (that is, provide 
them with clouds), ‘‘and they shall hear the earth’’ 
(that is, shall provide her with moisture), ‘‘and the 
earth shall hear’’ (by providing) ‘‘the agricultural- 
produce, and the vine-fruit, and the tree-fruit, and 
they shall hear’’ (that is, provide for) ‘‘Jezreel’’, 
as to food and clothing. 

In this passage the whole chain of secondary 
causes and effects, as used and over-ruled by the 
beneficent God of providence, are traced, link by 
link, till food is ready to answer the people’s need. 

The beauty and the consistency of the whole 
metaphor depends upon the Térdsh (vine-fruit), 
and the Yitzhar (tree-fruit), holding the same rela- 
tion to mother earth that the Dagan (agricultural- 
produce) does. This would not be the case were 
they artificially prepared ‘‘wine’’ and oil’’. 

The whole context requires that the moistened 
earth should bring forth the triplets of agricultural- 
produce, vine-fruit, and tree-fruit in the field, the 
vineyard, and the orchard—that she should cherish 
and nourish them on her bosom till they, having 
matured, are ready for the harvesting, the taking 
possession of, and the ingathering. All alike are 
seen to be the products of the soil in their original 
condition. 


41 


‘Térdsh was the gift of God’s bounty, not the gift of idols. 
The wife mistakes as to who, by giving abundant 
crops, provided her with food and clothing. 

[ next direct your attention to Hosea 2:2-12 and 
4:11, especially the latter passage. 

These verses are the last resort of those who 
hold the theory that wherever the word ‘‘wine’’ 
occurs in the authorized version of our Bible, it 
means an intoxicant. Hence they call for a careful 
exegesis, that the truth may be brought to light, 
and freed from the amazing maze of error which 
has encompassed it. This is all the more necessary 
because some who deny the ‘‘one-wine’’ theory, 
and clearly see that Térésh is elsewhere a fruit, 
have felt called on here to admit that it refers, in 
this instance, to an inebriating liquor. 

Hosea 4:11 reads, ‘‘Whoredom and wine and 
new wine take away the heart.’’ 

The word for ‘‘wine’’, in this verse, is in the 
Hebrew, Yayin (or Yain), which means the juice 
of the crushed grape, whether sweet or sour; and 
the word translated ‘‘new wine’”’ is ‘‘Térésh’’, 
which means the fruit of the vine in its natural 
state, as it is plucked, or taken from the vine when 
ripe. And the first of the three nouns which form 
the subject of the verb ‘‘take away’’ is Zunuth, 
which, as the whole of the book of Hosea shows, 
refers to Israel’s illicit love for and worship of idols. 
In fact, the noun, Zunuth, is never used in any other 
sense; it is used figuratively for spiritual apostacy 
from God, and in no other connection. (See Jer. 
3:2,9; Ezek. 23:27; 43:7; Numbers 14:33.) 

42 


Israel, in her spiritual apostasy, forsook the- 
Lord of life, and worshipped and served those idols: 
which, as her polytheistic neighbors taught, caused 
the fertility of the soil and gave abundant crops 
of agricultural-produce, vine-fruit, and tree-fruit. 

It is this spiritual whoredom and its hoped-for 
rewards from the field, the vineyard, and the 
orchard, which (Hosea says) ‘‘take away the 
heart’’. 

It is assumed quite generally that the verb 
translated ‘‘take away’’ must refer to the inebriat- 
ing effects of alcohol. To make this assumption is 
to beg the whole question. 

The simple fact is that the verb Laqah (to take 
away) is nowhere else, in the whole Bible, used in 
the sense of ‘‘to intoxicate’’, Why, then, assume 
that it has that meaning here? 

Surely whoredom is not an alcoholic liquor! 
Yet it is one of the triad that are said to ‘‘take 
away the heart’’! All of the texts examined so 
far show that Térdsh (‘‘new wine’’ in the author- 
ized version) means vine-fruit as it is taken from 
the vine. We may conclude, therefore, that Térdsh 
is not an alcoholic liquor. The plain fact is that 
the prophet, Hosea, is rebuking the covenant people 
for idolatry and its hoped-for rewards, and not for 
the use of intoxicating liquors. In doing so, he 
mentions three separate things that captivated, 
captured, and so took away, the heart. 

The first of this triplet is Whoredom, which, 
according to the figure used all through the book 

43 


of Hosea, consists in spiritual apostasy. For Israel 
broke the Divine marriage covenant made with 
Jehovah, by giving her heart to certain idols who 
were thought to preside over the field, the vineyard, 
and the orchard; and by trusting in them to meet 
her needs and provide her with an abundance of 
their fruits (Térdsh and Yain), which she, in turn, 
would use as a basis for foods and drinks. 

An examination of the context will confirm this 
interpretation as the true one. 

According to the metaphor employed, the na- 
tion of Israel is the wife; and the individual citi- 
zens are her children. ; 

Hence we understand why, in Hosea, 2:2-12, the 
latter are exhorted as follows: ‘‘Plead with your 
mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am 
I her husband: let her put away her whoredoms 

. lest I strip her naked . . . and make her as 
a wilderness and like a dry land, and slay her with 
thirst. And I will not have merey upon her chil- 
dren, for they be the children of whoredoms. . . . 


“She said, I will go after my lovers that gave 
me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, 
mine oil and my drinks. . . . For she did not 
know that I gave her agricultural-produce, and 
vine-fruit, and tree-fruit, and multiplied her silver 
and gold, which they prepared for Baal. 

“‘Therefore, I will return, and take away My 
agricultural-produce in the time thereof, and My 
wool and My fiax given to cover her nakedness; 

. and I will destroy her vines and her fig- 

44 


trees, whereof she hath said, These are My rewards 
that My lovers have given me.’’ 

But hereafter the repentant nation will be re- 
married to Jehovah, her gracious and provident 
Husband, and then He will hear her prayer and 
answer all her needs. 

For, ‘‘It shall come to pass in that day, I will 
hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and 
they shall hear the earth, and the earth shall hear”’ 
(and provide) ‘“‘the agricultural-produce, and the 
vine-fruit, and the tree-fruit; and they shall hear’’ 
(and provide) ‘‘Jezreel’’ and her inhabitants, with 
food and clothing. 

But, alas! Notwithstanding her re-instatement 
and this gracious and abundant provision by her 
Divine Husband, ‘‘as they were increased, so they 
sinned against Me; whoredom and wine (Yain), 
“‘and vine-fruit (Téroésh) “‘take away’’, that is, 
captivate, and capture ‘‘the heart.’’ She again 
turned from her covenant God and attributed her 
bountiful supply of the good things of this life to 
her secretly worshipped idol-lovers. The citizens of 
the nation waxed fat and kicked. They not only 
attributed their good crops to the heathen idols 
who were supposed to preside over the field, the 
vineyard and the orchard; but they drank to their 
health in their social feasts, and gave them thanks 
for the excellent grape-crop—the Térésh and the 
‘Yain. 

It is thus seen that it was idolatry and its sup- 


45 


posed rewards that captivated and “‘took away 
the heart’’ of Israel from God. 

Hence, if there be any reference at all in this 
much-misunderstood passage to an intoxicant it 
must be found in the word YAain (‘‘wine’’), which, 
being the juice of the crushed grapes, might have 
been in a fermented state. But that no alcohol 
existed in Zunuth (whoredom) or in Térdsh (vine- 
fruit), is certain. 

Wayward Israel implores the Triad from the idols which 
the worshippers of nature served. Hence the Triad 


must be the direct OFFSPRING of NATURE as found 
in the field, vineyard and orchard. 


That Hosea 4:11 does not prove Térésh (vine- 
fruit) to be an intoxicating liquor, but refers to 
polytheistic nature-worship and the good crops 
which the idolized idols were supposed to bestow 
upon their votaries is further shown by Hosea 7:14, 
where it is said that the Israelites, neglecting their 
Divine Husband and Lord, ‘‘ Assemble themselves 
for agricultural-produce, and vine-fruit; and they 
rebel against Me.”’ 

Gesenius, a celebrated Hebrew lexicographer, 
thinks that the allusion here is to meetings for 
supplicating the idols to grant fertility to the soil. 

The Septuagint, agreeing with this idea, has 
rendered the passage, “‘For corn and wine they have 
cut themselves’’ (in order to propitiate their gods). 
So too the Arabic version. 

The Divine Husband withholds His beneficent crops as 2 
punishment for the illicit love of His covenant people. 


If any further confirmation of this interpreta- 
46 


tion is called for, it will be found in Hosea 9:1, 2, 
where the prophet says, ‘‘Rejoice not, O Israel, 
for joy as other peoples; for thou hast gone a whor- 
ing from thy God, thou hast loved a reward upon 
every corn-floor’’ (threshing place for Dagan). 

‘The floor and the wine-press shall not feed 
them; the Térdsh (vine-fruit) shall fail in her.’’ 

Thus the Lord of covenant-life would punish 
unfaithful Israel by withholding from her His gifts 
of vegetable-life which they, on account of their 
perverted heart, thought to be the rewards of their 
devotion to the idols of the heathen nature-wor- 
shippers. 


A drought affects the Triad. Hence it must be the product 
of field, vineyard and orchard. 


Additional direct proof that the class-words, 
Dagan, Térdsh and Yitzhar refer to a Triad of vege- 
table earth-products in their natural, solid or succu- 
lent state, and not to artificial, specific, man-made 
preparations, is found in Joel 1:10-12. 

Here the prophet, in describing the effects of 
a drought, says, ‘‘The field is wasted, the land 
mourneth; for the Dagan’’ (agricultural-produce) 
“9s wasted away, the Térdsh’’ (vine-fruit) ‘‘is dried 
up, the Yitzhar (tree-fruit) ‘‘languisheth . . . the 
harvest of the field is perished, the vine is dried 
up, and the fig-tree languisheth, the pome-granate 
tree, the palm tree, also, and the apple tree—all the 
trees of the field—are withered.’’ 

With such a plain passage as the one above 
to guide us in interpreting the Word of God, ‘‘the 

47 


one-wine theory’’—which contends that wherever 
the word Térésh is found, it means a man-made, 
alcoholic liquor—becomes utterly untenable. For 
here in the first place, the Triad of soil-products is - 
mentioned—Dagin, Térésh and Yitzhar; then their 
source is declared to be the harvest, the vine, and 
the trees, all of which the severe drought withered 
and blasted. 
Repentant Israel shall have the Triad of plant-life in 
abundance. 

On condition of repentance, the Lord of plant- 
life will restore His blessings—the rewards of devo- 
tion to Him—as we learn from Joel 2:18:24. For, 
‘*then the Lord will be jealous for His land, and pity 
His people; yea, the Lord will answer, and say unto 
His people, ‘Behold, I will send you agricultural- 
produce, and vine-fruit, and tree-fruit; and ye shall 
be satisfied therewith; and I will no more make 
you a reproach’ (by sending famine), ‘among the 
heathen’.’’ Hence ‘‘be not afraid, ye beasts of the 
field, for the pastures of the wilderness do spring, 
and the tree beareth her fruit, and the fig-tree and 
the vine do yield their strength; and the floors shall 
be full of grain, and the fats shall overflow’’ (that 
is, superabound) ‘‘with vine-fruit and tree-fruit.’’ 

Not only enough for man and beast, but a great 
superabundance of the products of the vegetable 
Triad, is assured to repentant Zion, by her cove- 
nant Lord. 


Térdsh is clearly distinguished from Y&Ayim (Ydin). 


On the other hand, as a punishment for their 
48 


wickedness, Micah (Micah 6:15) says to back-slid- 
den Israel, ‘‘Thou shalt sow, but. thou shalt not 
reap; thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt 
not anoint thyself with the oil (Shemen); and 
Térdsh (vine-fruit), but thou shalt not drink the 
Yain’’ (the juice of the crushed grapes). ; 

Here Térdsh (vine-fruit) is as clearly placed 
in apposition to Ydin (wine) as olives are to oil 
(Shemen). In each ease, the first named is the 
fruit from which the last named of the pair is made 
by erushing, or pressing it. 

It is strange, indeed, how so many translators, 
by blindly following tradition, have failed to see 
that poetical consistency and common sense, alike, 
require that Térdsh be the solid but succulent fruit 
of the vine, pressure on which crushed it, and 
yielded the drink called Ydin (wine). 

How tantalizing to pluck and take the Térdsh 
from the vine, and by treading it crush .the berries; 
and yet not be allowed to drink the wine (Ydain) 
that flowed from the wine-press; or to press the 
olives, and yet not be permitted to make any use 
of the oil (Shemen) ! 

How can words make it clearer that the Térésh 
is the vine-fruit which, when pressed and crushed, 
yielded the liquid called Yain (wine) ? 


"The Triad is summed up in the phrase “That which the 
ground bringeth forth”, 


But to make assurance doubly sure read Haggai 
1:10, 11, ‘‘The heaven over you is stayed from dew, 
and the earth is stayed from her fruit. I called for 

49 


a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains; 
and upon the agricultural-produce, and upon the 
vine-fruit, and upon the tree-fruit—upon that which 
the ground bringeth forth; and upon men, and upon 
cattle, and upon all the labor of Thy hands.”’ 

~ It is evident that lack of moisture would ruin 
the growing crops—that Triad of vegetable bless- 
ings ‘‘which the ground bringeth forth’’, and which 
is here designated 1s ‘‘all the labor of thy hands’’. 
It is equally evident tnat the different orders of 
animal-lifé, also, would be slain by the thirst and 
hunger brought about by the drought. 

We have now completed our survey of all the 
passages in the Old Testament where this wonder- 
ful Triad of vegetable life and its products are 
mentioned. It is, therefore, time to conclude with 
some general observations, 

V. Conclusions—1-7. 


1. The Triad, when rightly undersiood, gives an enlargeé 
view of God’s wonderful work of providence. 


What an enlarged view a correct exegesis of 
this Triad gives us of the methods of God’s work 
of providence as it is carried on through the opera- 
tion of the laws of nature which are impressed on 
vegetable life! He uses these laws of nature, more- 
over, for the accomplishment of moral ends. For 
by increasing His gifts of agricultural-produce, 
vine-fruit, and tree-fruit, He rewards the obedient 
and supplies their every need. To those who honor 
Him, by bringing the first-fruits and the tithes into 
His store-houses as food for His ministering servy- 

50 


ants, He grants a superabundance of the good things 
of this life; on the contrary, by decreasing the yield 
of the field, the vineyard, and the orchard He pun- 
ishes His unfaithful covenant people who withhold 
this just land-rent, or who erroneously think that 
these rewards are given by other gods. 


2. Through this Triad of vegetable-life and the Dyad of 
animal-life, which is associated with it—the flock 
and the herd—we get a view of the very intimate rela- 
tionship which exists between the Creator and the 
creature. 


He is not, as some men think an absentee land- 
lord who is indifferent to the conduct of His ten- 
ants, but is anever-present, imminent Ruler who 
through the laws of nature executes His most holy 
will. 

3. We now see what a flood of light the correct exegesis 


of this vegetable Triad throws upon the true interpre- 
tation of scores of passages in God’s Word. 


The ‘‘corn, wine and oil’’ of the versions is 
seen to be agricultural-produce, vine-fruit and tree- 
fruit—the totality of the products of vegetable-life 
as they are grown in the field, the vineyard and the 
orchard, for man’s use. 


4, 
We see that the contextual setting of this Triad 


nowhere indicates a specific object like ‘‘corn’’, or 
manufactured articles like ‘‘wine and oil’’, but al- 
-ways requires technical class-terms—generic names 
which shall include all that the soil produces for 
the sustenance of man. 


This being the case, the long and widely held 
51 


‘‘one-wine’’ theory, which contends that in the 
thirty-eight places where Térésh oecurs alcoholic 
liquor is meant, and that everywhere that the other 
eight or more Hebrew words which have been trans- 
lated by the one word ‘‘wine’’ in the versions, are 
found, only intoxicants are meant, becomes utterly 
untenable. This theory is seen to be, in fact, a 
most harmful and horrible perversion of the Word 
of Truth. 

¢. 

This widely accepted and stubbornly defended 
error is, no doubt, the main reason why Jewish and 
Christian lands are everywhere notorious for the 
manufacture and use of intoxicants. They have 
mistaken the praises of vine-fruit (Térésh) for the 
praises of alcoholic ‘‘wine’’. They have, in the next 
place, degraded and perverted agricultural-produce 
and tree-fruit in a like manner, and from them 
manufactured poisonous, fermented liquors. Thus 
the whole vegetable Triad is perverted from its de- 
signed use for food and clothing; and is so abused 
as to have become a great curse. For, darkness has 
been put for light, and the poison of the serpent 
for the Triad of food which was created to nourish 
life. What a delusion! What a pity! 

The fact is that the Bible, when correctly trans- 
lated, everywhere reprobates the depraved appetite 
which craves fermented liquors. The use of these 
poisons is everywhere deprecated. But the Bible 
has unbounded praises for Dagan (agricultural-pro- 
duce, Térédsh (vine-fruit), and Yitzhar (tree-fruit) 

52 


—‘‘that which,’’ with the blessing of God, “‘the 
ground bringeth forth.”’ 
7. 

In conclusion, (1) I exhort you to help correct 
the misleading and mischevious impression which is 
given in the versions, by the narrow and wholly 
inadequate terms ‘‘eorn, wine and oil’’. Substitute 
for these specific names the generic, technical, class- 
terms ‘‘agricultural-produce, vine-fruit and _ tree- 
fruit’’, when you read or explain your Bibles. 

By so doing, you will help correct the pernici- 
ous and destructive ‘‘one-wine’’ theory, which even 
eontends that Ashesha (fruit-and nut-confections) 
are ‘‘flagons of intoxicating wine!’’ See 2 Sam. 
6:19, Song. 2:5, and Hosea 3:1, for instances. By 
substituting agricultural-produce, vine-fruit and 
tree-fruit for ‘‘corn, wine and oil’’, you will make 
known the greatness and beneficence of our Cre- 
ator’s works of providence; wherein, through the 
produce of the field, the vineyard and the orchard, 
He, the Lord of Life, provides for the wants of all 
His creatures. For ‘‘our Father Who is in heaven’’ 
usually answers the petition ‘‘give us this day our 
daily bread’’ by His blessing upon our crops through 
which He provides us with an abundance of agri- 
cultural-produce, vine-fruit and tree-fruit. 

(2) Especially do I say to every minister of 
the Word of God, ‘‘Study to show thyself approved 
unto God, a workman that needeth not to be 
ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth’’ (2 
Tim. 25:15). By so doing you will not only help to 

53 


‘banish the ‘‘open saloon’’ from our midst, but will 
hasten on the time when intoxicants will not be 
used as a beverage at all by Christians; and when, 
instead of ‘‘corn, wine and oil’’ in our versions, 
we shall find the all-inclusive, beneficent class-terms 
“‘agricultural-produce, vine-fruit and tree-fruit’’. 
May God’s blessing be added to this exegesis of His 
vegetable Triad. 


54 


TEMPERANCE AND MISSIONS. 
By Robert E. Speer. 


The liquor traffic is a hindrance to Missions.— 
First, because it gives the people of the non-Chris- 
tian lands a suspicion and distrust of Christianity 
—Christianity and liquor coming from the same 
countries; second, it misrepresents Christian civili- 
ation ; third, it demoralizes the weaker peoples living 
often in trying climatic conditions, which makes 
them less able to endure the ravages of drink; 
fourth, it debauches mind, body and soul, so that 
the material offered to the Gospel has become al- 
most unredeemable; and lastly, often where its ef- 
fects are not so extreme, it operates to lower morals 
and to exalt appetite. 


55 


A PRAYER FOR TEMPERANCE. 


O Lord, we praise Thy holy name, for Thou 
hast made bare Thine arm in the sight of all na- 
tions and done wonders. But still we ery to Thee 
in the weary struggle of our people against the 
power of drink... . —— 

May those who now entrap the feet of the 
weak and make their living by the degradation of 
men, thrust away their shameful gains and stand 
clear. But if their conscience is silenced by profit, 
do Thou grant Thy people the indomitable strength 
of faith to make an end of it. May all the great 
churches of our land shake off those who seek the 
shelter of religion for that which damns, and stand 
with level front against their common foe... . 

O God, bring nigh the day when all our men 
shall face their daily tasks with minds undrugged 
and with tempered passions; when the unseemly 
mirth of drink shall seem a shame to all who hear 
and see; when the trade which debauches men shall 
be loathed liked the trade which debauches woman; 
and when all this black remnant of savagery shall 
haunt the memory of a new generation but as an 
evil dream of the night. For this accept our vows, 
© Lord, and grant Thine aid. 


Walter Rauschenbusch. 


LIQUOR THE GREATEST HINDRANCE 
TO MISSIONARY WORK 


There is abundant proof of it in Africa. For 
100 years Missionary work has been carried on at 
a great cost of money and men in East, South and 
West Africa, with very unsatisfactory results, and 
that because of the effects of this deadly drink. I 
have traveled from Cape Town right up the coun- 
try, and crossed the Zambesi into Barotseland, in 
Central Africa; and I have studied the Christian 
work among the natives, and I am convinced that 
their evangelization is an impossibility where they 
have access to intoxicating drink, and this is the 
general opinion of most of those who are striving 
to bring them to the knowledge and obedience of 
Christ. On the other hand, some thirty years ago 
Missionaries commenced work in Uganda. In 
1890 my dear friend, Bishop Tucker, arrived there; 
there were then about 300 converts to Christianity 
and one church. In a letter recently received from 
him he tells me there are now some 60,000 Chris- 
tians, 1,700 churches, with a cathedral at Mengo 
which holds about 3,000 people. These churches are 
mainly served by native converts. All this glorious: 
progress has been made notwithstanding the terrible 
affliction of what is known as the ‘‘sleeping sick- 
ness,’’ which has carried off such large numbers, 


57 


including many Christian converts. Why such mar- 
velous success in Uganda, with such comparatively 
poor results in East, South and West Africa? The 
answer is because in Uganda there is no destroying 
liquor traffic. The people are in their natural condi- 
tion, so that the Gospel can act upon their minds and 
the Holy Spirit upon their souls. They believe and 
live, and Almighty God is glorified; and this result 
would follow the faithful preaching and teaching of 
the Gospel of Christ the world over if the proper 
conditions were observed. All God’s promises are 
eonditional, and if the conditions are fully carried 
out on the human side, the blessing from heaven will 
always follow and success will be the result. Wher- 
ever there is no success in Christian work it is be- 
cause God’s conditions are not observed and carried 
out. 


CHRISTIAN PROGRESS AMONGST THE 
ORIENTAL NATIONS 


If Christianity is to make any progress in the 
Oriental world, especially among Mohammedans, 
educated Hindus, Chinese, and even the thinking 
Heathen, it must produce far better results than 
it has yet done, and show them a more excellent 
way, by producing a sober, honest, moral people. 
The lives of so many so-called Christians who go to 
these Oriental countries are so loathsome, so dis- 
gusting in the eyes of these people, that they say, 


58 


“Tf this is the fruit of Christianity we will have 
none of it.’’ 

The drinking of intoxicants has been all down 
the ages, since the early Apostolic period, an inte- 
gral part of the Christian system, and it has well 
nigh brought ruin upon Christianity, and will ulti- 
mately destroy it unless Christian teachers revert 
to the Teaching of the Apostles upon the use of 
intoxicating liquors, and the Bishops and Clergy 
of all denominations must cease to talk hesitatingly 
on this all-important matter, and must lead the 
people with a strong, fearless lead in the right way, 
not only by what they say but also by what they 
do. 

JOHN ABBEY. 


59 


CATALOGUE OF PUBLICATIONS BY PRESBY- 
TERIAN TEMPERANCE COMMITTEE. 


No. Per hundred 
4Sinning Against the Unborn.—Scientifie 
Temperance Federation ................- 15e 
5—Aleoholic Heredity.—Dr. Ladame of Uni- 
versity of Geneva..............csss=aeen 15¢ 
7—Deliverances of the General Assembly 
(Abridged) ................-==eene Free 
8—Temperance Recitations (Original and Se- 
lected)... si... sac 00k oc +6 = «cen 40e 


10—Does it Pay ?—(English)—Charles Scanlon 15e¢ 
10—Does it Pay ?—Paga?— (Spanish )—Charles 


Seanlon ./. 2.0.2 -ss~ oss kad ole 2 15e 
10—Does it Pay ?—Kifizeti ez magat? — (Hun- 

garian) ccs <2. Sein Skies boa ee ee 15e¢ 
10—Does it Pay?—(German)—Charles Seanlon 15e 
12—Temperance Recitations ................. 40e 
13—The Old Decanter—(Poem).............. 10e 
14—A Boy’s Determination.—Elbertine ’ Robert- 

SON) 5 ed Lo cwue lane ay ee ae ee ee 15¢ 


15—Hanley’s Hates.—Gov. Frank J. Hanley... 15¢ 
16—Facts Concerning Aleohol—Heinrich Quen- 


sels oss aiwis' 0.28) p un Reena a 15¢ 
16—Facts Concerning Alcohol — (German).— 

Heinrich Quensel :.....: s........5 oo 15¢ 
17—That Man.—Rev. R. S. Holmes, D.D. ...... 15¢e 
18—Drink and the Doctor’s Bill.—Scientifie 

Temperance Federation ..............+.- 15¢ 


60 


No. Per hundred 


19—Grades in Brain Work.—Henry Smith Wil- 
| LE TRIIE > 131] 9 AG petty Shep, QE NS co 
20—Why I Became a Prohibitionist—Rudyard 
POG eee RoE eye co IIE. we 
21—Address of Emperor William of Germany. 
SSE. EIN SG) e902 ooo ian 
21—Address of Emperor William of Germany. 
oS SESSTTIES) placa alk OO ciel 
22—Success in Work and Play.—Mrs. E. L. 
IMP ATIGERIIT SSS 3 SSS eeeeneeotine.c cate eaeere bee 
24—-How to Teach the Quarterly Temperance 
Inesson.—Charles Scanlon ................ 
25—Alcohol and the Death Rate.............. 
26—Causes of Alcoholism ................... 
27—-A Thing to Cry Over.—Rev. John Hall, D.D. 


28—What a Christian Can Do?—Reyv. R. S. 
EIGPEPE EUR) hn rete he tain sas Bake sic he eee 


29—Save the Children—Rev. John F. Hill, D.D. 


31—The Great Wreeker of Homes.—Rev. T. De- 
Papeete RAE Ss he eve. scare Sela pe aie sis « 
35—Is There Room for Me? (English)—Rev. H. 
Wp. LEONI CIR 02 0 Sgt ase ee ne ae err Ute 
35—Is There Room for Me? (German) ....... 
37—I Know When to Stop.—Mrs. Grace Liv- 
MOS COMM ML DAKLZ SS. «, . sata vi te eke ae 
38—The Temperance Pledge——Rev. Frances J. 
COCLITAITS \ Sie Saat ee Pr ewan renee | SP 
39—Temperance Work for Girls——Rose Eliza- 
WetoR Cleveland aco. 8 vedi een Se eee oe 


15e 


15¢ 


15¢ 


15¢ 


15e 


15e 
15¢ 
15¢ 
15e 


15e 
15¢ 


40e 


20e 
20e 


20e 


20¢ 


No. Per hundred 
40—The General Assembly of 1895 and Unfer- 


mented Wine ........--.-+-++-«.sea———nnn Free 
41—The Draught that Quenches Thirst.—Miss 

C. B. Hawes........0.20+0+5+55enn 20¢ 
45—Drink Like a Gentleman................. 15¢ 
46—The Licensed Saloon.—(English) ......... 10¢ 
46—The Licensed Saloon.—Avviso birreria au- 

torizzata (Italian) .....<....°..,aee 15¢ 
46—The License Saloon. — Bar Licncie.— 

(French) .........05..... 0+ «> =e nnn 15¢ 
47—The Relation of Temperance to Missions.— 

Mrs. H. O. Hildebrand .......... eee 
48—Charged with Murder ...............+-; ., See 
49—Judge Morse’s Reasons .............-.-.. 20e 
51—Poor Rosy.—Mrs. C. M. Livingston....... 20¢ 
52—On the Fence.—(English)—Grace Living- 

ston Hill Wuutz .. 20.222 458 3.5. eee 20¢ 


52—On the Fence.—Na plote.—(Bohemian).... 20¢ 
52—On the Fence.—En la cerca.—(Spanish).. 20¢ 


54—A Study in Faces.—(English) ............ 15¢ 
54-A Study in Faces.—Une Etude de Visages. 
—(French) 9.3.00... 00.45.2850 15¢ 
54——A Study in Faces.—Studie obliceju—(Bo- 
hemian) | 0.00... OV... ee 15e 
54—A Study in Faces.—Um estudo em physion- 
omias.—Portuguese) ...............5 15e 
54—A Study in Faces.—Porownanie dwoch 
twarzy.—(Polish) ...¢5 5 ..5:5.00.<ee 15e 
54—_A Study in Faces.—Un estudio de Caras.— 
(Spanish)... «40 idee a oadee ee 15¢ 


No. Per hundred 
55—They Must Have Them.—John F. Hill, D.D. 15c 
59—Medication Without Alcohol.—Mrs. V. C. 
LESCRTE GLE a URE NE GS rag Sie 15¢ 
62—Pledged—HElbertine Robertson ............ 20¢ 
64—Why the Man Who Works for a Living 
Should not Drink Beer. — Mrs. Mary H. 
PSUDIERT | CURES Sea (A et abe alan aa Sa 20¢ 
65—My Brother’s Keeper.—Elbertine Robertson 20c 
66—Suggestions for Church Temperance Com- 


STAC) SAS ES ai Se eS ee ea 15¢ 
67—Battles Fought and Won.—Rev. G. C. Wild- 
REMOTE Na NUM ee a Peta Saniedre, wiayes sche web 6° 15¢ 
69—Biblical Temperance.—Prop. James Wal- 
Wonca eet) Meters ass ss aes ee SOR enue a se 40e 
70—Shall I Drink-—Robert E. Speer, M.A. .... 15¢ 
73—The Story of Daniel—Rev. James H. Snow- 
LIDGE, JOD Ran ieee ee a ae Pe ge Tag 15¢ 
75—African Missions and the Liquor Traffie— 
LRATIOSIES Dy SS) OCS) iar 15¢ 
78—May I Ask?—Charles Seanlon ............ 15¢ 
80—A Medical Prescription.—Scientifiec Temper- 
MCORP ATION of. 55 26s whe es clovee ene 15¢ 
85—The New Boy.—By Pansy ............... 15e 
86—The Broken Chain.—By Pansy ........... 15¢ 


95—The Great Destroyer.—Hon. R. P. Hobson. 15¢ 
99—Why Sign the Pledge—Hon. William J. 


ECW ED. 5.9 ois ane a eee ee er yea he 15e 
Pledge Cards — (Adapted to Presbyterian 
CLITA NES O12) i er ee ....Free 


Sunday-school Temperance Pledge Roll....each 25e 
* 63 

















No. Per hundred 
Temperance Day Programs, 12 pages, with musi¢ 
and recitations $1.00 per hundred. Samples free, 


NOTE :—The contributions of churches, ‘Ben 
day school and Young People’s Societies may be 
plied as subscriptions to The AMETHYST, the of- 
ficial temperance organ of our denomination, pub- 
lished monthly at 25¢ per single copy or 20¢ pet 
year in clubs of twenty-five or more to one address. 
Send for sample copy to Presbyterian Temperance 
Committee, 72 Conestoga Building, Pittsburgh, Pa. 


The work of this Committee is supported by 
voluntary offerings from individuals and from or- 
ganizations connected with the Presbyterian Church 
in the U. S. A. Churches, Sunday-schools, Young 
People’s Societies and Presbyterian Temperance 
Unions which contribute as recommended by the 
General Assembly are entitled to receive a reason- 
able amount of literature without charge. To oth 
organizations or individuals it is furnished, postpaid, 
at the prices given. A liberal discount will be ma 
on large orders. An assorted sample package will 
be sent for 10c. . 


Address orders to Rev. John F. Hill, 
Conestoga Building, Pittsburgh, Pa. 


C4 





TOT 





